Their Shattered World (Element Evil VI)
by EternityBlue77
Summary: As we're about to destroy the last portal in existence and permanently stop anymore threats on our world, Angel's power reacts with the portal, and next thing I know, everything's changed. My team is out for blood, the enemies are on my side, and SHE'S back...
1. Prologue

Etrius screamed his name.  
The General stared in astonishment.  
Beecher's body lay lifeless in the middle of the battlefield.

Etrius was the first to rush to his side, collapsing to his knees as flaming ashes fell around them. He pulled him onto his back, his emerald eyes widening at the sight of the shrapnel piece, piercing his heart. Beecher's eyes were open but lifeless, red irises still and dilated.

The rest of Etrius's team blurred out in the background with each angry breath Etrius took. With bloodshot eyes and a vengeful sneer, he glared at The General, who stood on the opposite side of the battlefield. The detonator in his hands.

Etrius lay his friend back down and stood to his full height, throwing every ounce of hatred he had towards The General. "Son of a bitch..." There was a quake in his voice.

The General dropped the detonator. "Etrius, it's not what you think-"

Etrius unhooked Beecher's sniper, slightly damaged from the explosion. He faced The General again. "Murderer... You'll pay for what you've done."


	2. Chapter 1 - It Has Begun

_I can see her face._  
I had my arms around her, holding her so close it was as though we were one person.  
 _Sometimes it shines brighter than the sun..._  
The usual shimmer in her eyes when the sunlight hit it just right melted into my soul. Her laugh was like music, her voice my favorite sound.  
 _Other visions are lost in the void..._  
Then, she was falling away from me, the perpetual distance between us increasing with each passing heartbeat. But the more I stretched, the further she fell from my reach.  
Then, she was lost to me forever.

I breached the surface of consciousness with a gasp, my eyes taking in my surroundings. Etrius's bunk was above me, with scattered papers, fallen bullets, and crushed soda and beer bottles littering the floor. Our dorm.

The bed above me creaked, on cue to the sound of a watch going off. Etrius gripped his pillow and flung it down into my face without looking. Every morning. He never missed. "Get up, Beecher. We got shit to do today."

I pushed the pillow to the floor and dragged my hands down my face. "Ugh, don't remind me..."

It had been almost a year since The Superior was erased and Blue went back to her world. Things have been quiet since, and for once, I enjoyed the silence. Blue made a promise that she would set things right, and there would be no more problems for us.

So far, she'd kept her word.

But there were still things that needed to be done. Gateways that needed to be closed.  
We'd already destroyed all potential portals and gateways into other realms. Except one.

The portal that started it all. The portal that united us after spending years apart. The portal that served as the first gateway into the castle universe.

The underground base was abandoned, and the portal decommissioned. The General knew there were no more Crystal Shards left in the facility to jump start the portal, but I didn't want us to take any chances. This thing *had* to be destroyed.

Dragging myself out of bed from a night of drinking, I pulled my boots out from beneath my bed, tugged on my vest armor and jacket, assembled my sniper, and checked the built in GPS on my gauntlet, one of many that Blue had created for us. Etrius rolled out of his top bunk and collapsed on top of me shortly after.

"Off..." I mumbled, trying to push him off me. Footsteps resounded outside our open door. The General stopped by our room and stared for a second before moving more quickly down the hall. Boomer came next, but instead, he gave his trademark grin. "Let's go, lovebirds. The rest of us are waiting outside."

After Boomer disappeared, Etrius and I exchanged glares. We pushed away from each other and got to work.

We met the rest of the team by the facility garage, where several humvees were already running. Nox and Lloyd were looking over a holographic map, figuring out a trail on how to get to our first base. Angel was busy familiarizing herself with the Humvee controls, while Boomer and Creticus were stocking the Humvees. They both had the essentials. Weapons and whiskey. Why could go wrong?

Boomer had his own exclusive humvee packed with every kind of explosive device I could think of. The plan was to get the humvee near the portal, set the timer, and let it blow the place to shreds. I could tell Boomer was more than anxious. It had been months since he'd blown something up, and the only thing that sated his hunger was the sound of booming thunder on stormy days.

The drive was silent, except for Lloyd's directives on teaching Angel how to drive, and Nox occasionally shouting for Angel to slow down. I witnessed the events play out from my rearview mirror. Angel had one hand on the wheel, the other changing gears, a determined smirk on her face. She didn't want to go back to childhood. Even though Lloyd and Nox didn't agree with her decision, I was on Angel's side with this one. Growing up, she may have had power but she was defenseless. The Superior easily used obsidian to subdue her, and being older gave her more experience for training.

Even though Angel simply said she enjoyed being older.

Six hours later, the base loomed up ahead through the overgrown trees. It looked small, but the rest of the facility was built underground. Barbed wire and gated fences lined the outer perimeter, with powered down automatic weapons dropping from the roof. Arriving first, I launched several bullets through them to make sure they weren't still activated.

When the rest of the team made it, we climbed over the towering gates and landed on the other side. Boomer rushed ahead of us, eager to plant explosives and get the doors open. While the explosion went off, Angel's eyes took in the facility around her. Vines and brush were growing on the walls, and in between abandoned humvee tires. "Is this really where you guys worked and took orders?"

I bit my lip and avoiding my gaze from turning to the building that led to the interrogation rooms. "It used to be."

We emerged into the abandoned main facility, taking the spiral staircase since the power was still out. Everything was eerily silent. Nothing like when I first joined the Castle Project. There were always soldiers around me shouting and taking orders, vehicles coming in and out of the underground portal. Without all the noise, it couldn't compare.

Lloyd flicked on his flashlight, taking the lead. I caught a glance of the dual swords on his back. Since giving Blue his own, he'd crafted two more with intricate black swirling patterns on the blades.

The staircase gave away into a large open cave. Support beams towered above us, holding up the soil leaking water. Our footsteps echoed off the walls. Rusted humvees and trailers were parked around the area, with smaller buildings, offices and command posts scattered around. But the largest thing in sight was the portal. One of it's beams was slightly tilted to the side, but it was still as majestic as when I first saw it. The air was too quiet. Too peaceful. It was the perfect moment for something to go wrong. Which was why we had to destroy it.

Etrius gave Boomer a nod, who produced several packs of C4 from his pack, and began priming them. We were gonna blow this place to hell.

While Boomer got busy, the rest of the team began wandering around, taking in the memories before they would be gone forever.

The General stopped and stared at one building in particular. It used to be his. His eyes were unreadable, and I couldn't tell if he longed to return to the old days, or regretted every decision he ever made. Regardless, there was nothing here but broken memories, and no way to change the past. Josiah already proved that. There was nothing left to fix.

I found Angel lurking near the portal, her neck craned to view the whole structure. The sheer scale of it reminded me of just how small and insignificant we really were.

Angel stared at the portal. The gateway to the realm she descended from. Her home. What could have been her home if the Ancients had never spawned the Evils.

Then, I noticed something else in her expression. Sadness. I gripped her shoulder, and when she turned to face me, I gave a smile, seeing the Ancient-Descendant hybrid child again. Angel took a breath, then nodded to tell me she was alright. I turned away to see if I could salvage any weapons from the place.

"Alright, explosives are primed." Boomer stood up from his kneeling position. "Let's go and watch the fireworks."

Then, I saw it. A flash of blue light in my peripheral vision. I whirled around, seeing Angel still by the portal. Light leaked from her fingertips, eyes and mouth, swirling towards the portal. Her power. It was reacting to the portal.

Lloyd and Nox didn't notice. Nobody would notice in time. Reacting on instinct, I dived for her, grabbing her shoulders and pushing her away.

Then, I was weightless. Nothing standing between me and the portal. It's fractured light burst into streams, grabbing me like ice cold hands, beckoning me until I was inside. The screams of my team sounded faded behind me, like they were too far out of reach. Gravity tightened around me like a vessel. Time unraveled, and the unknown was stretched out before me.

Unable to control myself, I fell into the portal's light, and the gateway closed behind me.


	3. Chapter 2 - No Rest For The Wicked

An invisible force propelled me against hard concrete, and I felt like I was flung from a moving chopper. Swirling winds died down, and I forced my eyes open to take in my surroundings, old military instincts kicking in. The first thing I noticed was the night sky. Then, the white noise of an empty city.

Alarmed, I forced myself to my knees and watched for any signs of danger. Holographic screens flickered in the empty city around me, many of them showing a red symbol. It reminded me of my old emblem from when I was in the military, only it was upside down with half a yellow circle surrounding it. One word was beneath every symbol. _Submit_.

Still disoriented, I managed to search myself for any weapons, but even my sniper was gone. All that remained was the dagger strapped to my boot.

The last thing I remembered was Angel's power reacting to the portal, showing her out of the way, then getting caught inside. Narrowing my eyes, I peered around the streets I was thrown in the middle of. Instinct told me this was Oregon City. But it didn't feel the same. There was no litter. No heavy crowds populating the streets. It was too quiet. Wherever the portal had thrown me, I needed to find a way back.

Then, a white hot light blinded my vision. Shielding my eyes, I turned to the night sky. A single chopper hovered over the buildings, shining that damn spotlight in my eyes. Soon, it was joined by four others. Ropes descended to the ground, and men clad in red and black nanofibre armor surrounded me.

"You there!" One of them shouted, aiming a rifle in my direction. It reminded me of the rifles the Superior's men had, only less advanced. But their aim was precise. Prefect. Trained. Aiming for weak points in my leather armor. Their faces were hidden behind red masks with HUD holograms moving across the glass surface. "Explain yourself!"

I stared, completely lost, but smart enough to put my hands up. I knew when I was outnumbered. Fighting without my team was futile. A rush of bad memories returned as I was reminded of Etrius, when he first tried to take the Superior on his own.

"It's four hours past curfew! You know the repercussions for breaking-"

"Wait, is that... Him?" One of the men lowered his aim slightly. His red mask clicked off and peeled back. He peered at me.

"Don't let him trick you. He's just an imposter, probably trying to instigate the Regime. _He_ died, remember?" The soldier, apparently a high rank, grumbled back to the other soldiers.

"Look at his eyes," Another one spoke up, and I sank inside myself, the sudden attention and stares like fire on my skin. "They look like... _his_."

The high ranked soldier stepped closer, not lowering his aim. "On your knees!"

Wordlessly, I complied.

"Explain yourself!"

"I-"

"You know changing of eye color is against the law. Submit, and you'll be sent straight to execution. Mercifully."

My nostrils flared. No rest for the wicked. "Bring someone in command." I didn't know how else to word it. I was so used to giving and taking orders, and I didn't know how they would react to me. But the barrel of the rifle stared down at me. "I have no idea where the hell I am, but I'm a soldier. Like the rest of you." I bit my lip. _Maybe I used to be._

The high ranked soldier gestured to the rest of his comrades. "Detain him. He goes to execution in 0400 hours."

"Hold it!" That voice. I knew who it was.

The crowd of men parted, and a soldier with green eyes, clad in red plated armor that was rigged to his every move, approached me.

Relieved, yet annoyed, I lowered my arms and stood to full height. "About damn time you showed up."

Etrius stared at me, silent, almost scrutinizing.

I frowned. "Etrius?"

I felt his fist colliding with my face before I hit the ground.


	4. Chapter 3 - Their World

I regained consciousness in an unfamiliar room. The walls were stark white and a pain in the ass to stare at. I lay in a single twin sized bed with a single sink, toilet and mirror in one corner, and a sorry excuse for a food dispenser in the other. I commanded my arms and legs to move, but I felt nailed down.

 _Drugs_ , I mildly noted.

With effort, I forced myself upright. My armor was gone, replaced with white baggy polyester pants and long sleeved shirt. The room was cold, ice frosting over the AC vents, but I still felt out of my element in the scrubs. I checked my boots. The dagger was gone. Cursing, I attempted to stand up to my full height. I had to recover ASAP and find a way out of here.

Instead, I lost my balance and collapsed to my knees. Whatever drug I was given, it was different from the ones I built a tolerance to. The floor rocked beneath my feet.

A whirling sound. At my six. A security camera glared at me. Then, a door that blended into the wall slid open, and a pair of feet stopped before me. I craned my neck, looking up at the person who entered. It was Lloyd. But something was wrong. His eyes were a darker shade of brown, not the usual earthy color, slightly blended with gold. And his black armor was replaced with red, much similar to the one I saw Etrius wearing.

 _What's with the color red all of a sudden?_

"Lloyd," I murmured, feeling nauseous. "What's happening?"

Lloyd's eyes then changed, softening momentarily at the mention of his name. But as soon as it arrived, it was gone, and he seized my arm in a powerful grip. Stronger than his usual strength. Element Evil flashed across my mind. I felt it everywhere. But it couldn't be possible. Element Evil was eradicated for good. We were sure of it.

"Get up," Lloyd sneered, dragging me to my full height. I struggled to remain standing. "Don't think you're smart enough to trick the rest of us. You'll pay for this, imposter."

Now, I was angry. I wanted to punch his fucking face. "Lloyd, just tell me what the fuck is happening!"

Lloyd froze, but his eyes were still hard. "You even sound like him." I caught a hint of something else in his voice. Remorse.

"Blue took your ability to turn against your teammates, asshole! What the fuck are you doing?!"

Lloyd then avoided my gaze, dragging me out of the room and into metallic hallways. I gave up trying to talk sense into him at this point. I would have to take it up with the rest of the team. Maybe Boomer would listen. Or Nox, or Angel. Something must've happened to their memories. The portal must've done something. It didn't send me to another dimension, just to another location. The only question ripping my mind apart was: What happened while I was gone? _How_ long _was I gone_?

A pair of metallic doors slid open, and we emerged into another room, one that was less cold. Lloyd thrust me against a metallic table, kicking my knees out from under me, and cuffing my wrists to the table. The rest of the team surrounded me, staring. All wearing red. Fucking. Armor.

I bowed my head, grinding my teeth. "I'm in a fucking nightmare..."

"And it's about to get a whole lot worse unless you start talking," Etrius slammed his hands in the table, up close in my face. "Who did that facial surgery? Must've been pretty expensive to get it this accurate."

"Heh. You don't remember me, huh?" I gave a smirk, but my heart was pounding.

"We're the ones asking the questions here!" Etrius pulled his elbow back for a punch, but Boomer grabbed his arm. "Etrius, stop! What if it really _is_ him?"

Etrius threw his hand off and thrust a finger in my direction. I'd never seen him look angry this way. As if he'd been betrayed by himself. "Beecher is dead, and this son of a bitch thinks he can mock us! Beecher is not. Coming. Back."

I stared in a stupor. It was no longer a question of what happened. It's what the _fuck_ is _happening_.

Boomer narrowed his gaze. "Get Romavon in here to take a DNA test. I want to know who he really is."

Etrius rolled his eyes, then pressed an earpiece connected to his headgear. "Romavon, come here ASAP. And take the DNA scanner with you."

 _Romavon? Isn't it Romanov?_

Moments later, the doors swung open, and Romanov entered. But he seemed... different. His glasses were thin and clear, and his lab coat was black with the same red logo on it. He bowed to Etrius, surprising me. Then, he turned to me, and pressed something against my wrist. Before I could protest, I felt something pierce my skin, drawing blood.

Romanov turned away, pacing and watching something in a holographic screen connected to his watch. He placed a few drops of blood into the surface of his watch, and the screen changed to show statistics and DNA samples. My DNA.

Etrius knelt down to face me with vengeance in his eyes. "No hiding from a DNA test."

"If you're attempting to scare me, you're doing a lousy job at it, E. Whatever the fuck happened to your memories, I'll find a way to get them back. I'll get Blue in this." _Somehow_.

"This makes no sense." Romanov murmured. Lloyd turned to face him, but Etrius kept his eyes on me. Then I felt something cold press against my stomach. The barrel of a gun. Etrius's mouth turned up into a wicked smile. He looked almost like... I swallowed.  
 _He looks like The Superior._  
He was waiting for them to say something. Give him an excuse to shoot me. Nothing I said would stop him. I struggled against the chains. "Etrius, no!"

"Stop!" Romanov shouted. He turned towards us, then undid my cuffs. I instantly backed away, but the drugs still caused insane vertigo.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Etrius shouted. Then, he froze, staring from Romanov to me. "He's not..."

Romanov pressed his lips together. "His DNA matches with Beecher's. But his heart is on the left side. Not the right. This may not be his dimension, but he is still Beecher."

Instantly, my questions began to click. The portal HAD brought me to another dimension. Just, one that was too similar to my own. It was no wonder Lloyd had the ability to turn against me. This Lloyd was never cursed by Blue.

Silence settled over the room. I stared at them, and they stared at me. Then, this world's Etrius walked towards me. His gun clattered to his feet, and he dropped to his knees, wrapping his arms around me in a shaky, crushing embrace. It scared me. I'd never seen him like this, not since losing Angel to the Superior.

Etrius stared at me with something else. Redemption. "You're really here."


	5. Chapter 4 - Fly On The Wall

Etrius drove on the right side of the car to the left side of the road, completely opposite to what I was used to.  
"What happened here?" Our humvee rolled to a stop at the next traffic light, and I finally got a good look at the streets. They were mostly empty. The people I saw weren't people. They were like the brainwashed soldiers I'd seen when working for The General and the Superior. Puppets. Walking without purpose. Fear filled their eyes upon noticing the symbol tagged on the door of the humvee. My eyes drifted from the symbol back to the people.

They exchanged glances, then climbed down to their knees, almost in a bow. Except for one person.

A guy dressed in rags and a beanie, clearly drunk. He hurled his empty beer bottle against the humvee's bulletproof glass.

Locking the doors, Etrius produced a microphone from the humvee's dashboard and spoke with an authorative voice. "Kneel to your Elite Regime, or face the consequences. This is your only warning."

The drunkard either didn't register what Etrius was telling him at all, or he didn't want to. He shouted something vile, giving us a stiff middle finger. He then produced a knife from his jacket pocket, grabbing another civilian by the throat and holding the knife to her. She screamed. Inside, I did too.

Etrius ground his teeth, turning to Lloyd in the backseat. As if reading a silent message, Lloyd nodded. Etrius unlocked the humvee, and Lloyd threw himself out, launching himself towards the drunkard like a panther attacking its prey.

In seconds, the drunkard's head was rolling. Lloyd's blade stained with blood. The victim falling to the ground, bowing to Lloyd in utter fear with her hands over her head.

I acted without thinking. "LLOYD!" Kicking the humvee door out of my way, I ignored Etrius and approached Lloyd with heavy footsteps.

Lloyd didn't bother cleaning his sword before sheathing it. Then I noticed the older blood stains on his sheath. It wasn't the first time he'd done this. But I wasn't afraid of him.

"Just what the HELL was that?" I demanded.

I saw a flicker of confusion in Lloyd's eyes, but as soon as it arrived, it was gone, and he was stone cold again. "I'm doing what's right. We all are."

"You just killed someone we were supposed to protect! Look around you! Everyone is afraid of you!"

Lloyd crossed his arms. "If I hadn't killed him, he would've killed a lot more."

"He was drunk. Probably delusional. He needed help, not THIS."

Etrius and Boomer stepped out of the humvee. I then noticed that all traffic had stopped. Not to watch the scene play out, but in forced respect for my team. Etrius stared down at everyone, as if to make sure nobody else was insubordinate. Boomer had his usual insane smile on his face, intimidating several people on the way towards us.

Etrius stared at me. "Our world has been safer since we took over. We've had no fighting, no hunger, no terrorism, no war."

"Of course you have no war, because you use war as a threat!

This world's Etrius continued staring at me for a long time, and I hated not knowing what he was thinking. I could see the thoughts swirling in his eyes but I couldn't read them. He was indecipherable. Nothing like my Etrius.

Finally, he stepped closer and whispered. Maybe to intimidate me. Maybe so the others won't hear.

"Don't tell me your world is nothing like ours."

I bit my lip and didn't answer.

Etrius's eyes darkened. "You have people doing whatever they want? You give them freedom to stand up and tear down the power that keeps order?"

"My team and I KEEP the balance from being tipped over from the evil that used it to their own gain. And from the looks of things, you're just like the evil we fought to get rid of." Unafraid, I turned to the people still bowing around us. "THIS is not the way things are supposed to be! The world is not better off under someone else's heel."

The people stared at Me, but didn't say much. A few began mumbling about how i was right. Some were too afraid.

I threw my head back and laughed, gesturing to this world's Elite Regime. "You're afraid of THEM? I could hack their weapons and take them down in my sleep. There are only three of them, and millions of you."

The people gasped. But not out of realization.

"Beecher?" Etrius's voice was calm. But when I turned to face him, his eyes were on fire with violent white light. I felt bile rise up in my throat. Element Evil. "Stop talking."

An overwhelming urge to keep my mouth shut hit me. I ground my teeth and shut my eyes, trying to fight the tether Etrius had around me. With blurry vision, I saw Lloyd and Boomer's eyes ignite. They reminded me of the Superior, of the Mind Worm, the Presence, the Darkness, and everything I fought to destroy. I was never afraid of the evil. But I was afraid it would take my team. And it did.

The vice tightened, and I collapsed to my knees, trying to untangle a net that wasn't there. Breathe air I couldn't reach.

Then, Etrius was on top of me, the light illuminating the obsession in his eyes, his mouth set in a straight line. "Submit, Beecher. And fall back in line with the rest of us."

"NO—" I managed to blurt through the haze of pain. I turned to the rest of the people. "Fight— back—!"

Lloyd unsheathed his sword, light swirling off it. Boomer produced two grenades, tossing and catching them until light erupted. "EVERYONE, OUT! NOW!"

They were too afraid to listen to me. Wanting to keep their lives, and not test their Regime. It was useless to talk to them.

As if a bomb had gone off, screams erupted, and everyone ran in different directions.

Etrius's grip on me tightened. He leaned in closer, and the pressure heightened. "Submit."

Black permeated my vision. A thousand thoughts ran through me head in seconds. How did the team get Element Evil? Why were they doing this? Etrius was trying to kill me.

Etrius filled my eyes and I slipped away. Etrius was trying to kill me.

A smile lifted on Etrius's face. "You'll understand soon."

Their world's Etrius.

My hands fell limp to my sides.

My world's Etrius.

I slipped through a tunnel and lost consciousness somewhere in the Void.

"That was stupid."

Groggily, I lifted my eyes and scanned my surroundings. I was back at my base. My room. Everything back to the way it was.

Etrius walked around me. "You were supposed to stay in the humvee and watch. Now the world knows you're back. It's only a matter of time until they..."

Then, it hit me. I wasn't back home. Not in the one I knew.

I tried sitting upright, but steel cuffs had my arms and ankles chained to the bed. Etrius huffed in amusement. "Come on. You can break those easily."

Through the dizziness, I eyed him. "What?"

Etrius crosses his arms and leaned against the wall. "Element Evil. You never had it before like the rest of us. Now you do."

My heart dropped. I stared at my hands before they started to shake. Element Evil. Inside me. A part of me.

In my anger, I yanked at the cuffs with strength I didn't know I had, breaking them apart. "I don't want it!"

Etrius laughed. "Yes you do. I didn't give you much because you might pull off some shit like you did earlier today. If I were you, I'd accept it and stay quiet. You'll grow to like it, like the rest of us did. Then you'll understand why we do what we do."

I ground my teeth and glared at him. "If your Beecher was still alive, he would hate what you've done to this world."

"Your world is so much worse! You were betrayed by those closest to you. You were trapped in cryosleep for centuries while the Three Elders dictated and raped your world. Angel was taken from you and turned into a war machine. Your team died multiple times to protect a world that didn't deserve it! Your team was turned against each other God knows how many times. Look at the people you've surrounded yourself with!"

"LOOK AT THE PEOPLE YOU'VE BECOME!"

Etrius's eyes darkened. In a split second, he had me against the wall, hands holding my wrists against it. "You'll understand. I'll make you understand."

"You son of a—!"

"Shut up. Before I make you do something you REALLY don't want to." Etrius waved his hand, and the words dissolved in my mouth. I held glared at him, unafraid of how close he was and what he could do. "I worshiped you when you were alive, you know. Everything I did now, I did it in your honor. I loved you, comrade. And THEY took you when I couldn't stop them..."

"You think I'm your friend? That I'll understand what you're doing? That I'll appreciate what you've done to this world? To these people? Well guess what."

Etrius let go and turned his back to me, but he turned his head to face me slightly.

"I. Hate. You."  
I steeled myself again, but Etrius didn't throw another attack at me. Instead, he remained silent and exited the room. I let out an angered scream and charged after him, but the door shut and the knob was made of obsidian. I backed away and growled at the security camera in the corner of my room.

No. BEECHER'S room. I wasn't Beecher. Just an intruder. I braced my hands against the wall and let my thoughts go rampant. "What the hell did this world's Beecher do about this?" Then, I swallowed down panic. This world's Etrius must've killed him. But then why wouldn't he kill me?

Etrius said THEY took Beecher in this world.

Who is THEY?

As if the threat of the Elite Regime wasn't enough, I probably had someone out for me too. As much as I hated to admit it, Etrius was partially right. Going out there was stupid. I was a target now, with hunters I couldn't see.

But I wasn't going to stay here and cower. I needed to find a way to get back home.

If my world had a portal, this world must have one too. My only ticket home. And I doubted this world's Etrius would simply give up the location. And I was smart enough to know he wouldn't submit to interrogation.

I knelt down and inspected the obsidian knob. Etrius has taught me how to pick one of these. This world's Beecher must've died before this Etrius could.

Only, the knob's mechanics were backwards. Everything was. This was going to take some time.

By the time the knob gave a satisfying *click*, my hands were burning with invisible fire and I had a stronger determination to find a way out. My only hope was to find The General's old base. If they hadn't destroyed it. That portal would be my only ticket home.

Monitor room first. Disable the cameras. Would be five minutes before Etrius noticed.

Back exit. Or, front exit. Even the hallways were backwards. I found myself backtracking my way, using the map of the base back home. The lights were out, meaning the others were asleep. But there was always someone patrolling. I peered into the mess hall. Boomer was awake, but playing games on the monitor. I rolled my eyes. Not everything was different here.

I picked the lock to the back exit, overwriting the alarm. It wasn't hard, considering this Beecher's voice was the same as mine.

I pushed past the doors and stepped outside.

A cool wind hit me, and I shielded my eyes. I was used to walking outside and feeling searing heat. Did they... fix the earth? Diminish the rising heat in the atmosphere? I wanted to believe they'd done good to this world. I wanted to believe it so bad. But they had done more harm than good, and I had no hope of turning it back.

I pocketed my retrieved dagger and clicked the safety off my sniper, then trudged through the forest towards the city lights that illuminated the atmosphere up ahead. My old base was just west of it. I headed east, praying I was going in the right direction.


	6. Chapter 5 - Lilacs and Ashes

p style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"The leaves crunched beneath my weight, and the forest had a strange fresh scent of earth and rainwater. Droplets of cold water pricked at my face. /p  
p style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"Two hours into the trek, and military instinct told me I was being watched. I glanced over my shoulder at the looking Darkness, but I didn't see anyone. I regretted not taking night vision goggles with me from the base, but I couldn't risk being caught before I escape. /p  
p style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"Footsteps. /p  
p style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"They were all around me. /p  
p style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"I raised my sniper and aimed at the darkness. "Whoever the hell is out there, show yourself!"/p  
p style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"Fat droplets fell from the canopy above me. I glanced up, seeing figures moving in the moonlight filtered by the trees. I aimed my sniper up. Whoever they were, I couldn't risk underestimating them as a threat. /p  
p style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"Then, something hit me. /p  
p style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"I felt a rib crack, and I collapsed to my side. I glanced down and plucked it out of my side. Rubber bullets. The Elite Regime?/p  
p style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"Then, they were everywhere. Swarming like insects. I seized my dagger and tried slicing through the figures moving too fast for me to see, but they were faster. They had my sniper, then the rest of my weapons. Strong hands pinned me to the floor. My bones screamed. I screamed back. /p  
p style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"Then, I remembered. I didn't need the weapons. I had Element Evil. /p  
p style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"But I didn't want to use it. I didn't want to prove THEM right./p  
p style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;""You know this is wrong! Let go!"/p  
p style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"A solid punch. /p  
p style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"I ground my teeth. "ETRIUS!"/p  
p style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"I risked a glance up, but it wasn't the Elite Regime who had me pinned. They were wearing older uniform designs. They were wearing visors similar to the ones back in my world. DID they come from my world?/p  
p style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"Thunder rolled in the distance, and I was suddenly aware of how powerless Etrius must've felt when he first lost Angel to the Superior. This was some sick trick from the portal. Repeating history from my world. /p  
p style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"But if the Superior was dead in my world.../p  
p style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"The men parted, clearing a path. /p  
p style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"A pair of very familiar boots marched towards me. I couldn't look up. I didn't want to look into those eyes again. /p  
p style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;""Just as I thought." That voice... I wanted to hurl. "They give him Element Evil. Inject him with obsidian."/p  
p style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"Something cold and sharp pricked the side of my neck. "NO!" I screamed, yanking away from the rough hands holding me down. Fire coursed through me, clawing at my throat, flooding my veins. I reached for the sniper at my belt that wasn't there. My hands felt alarmingly empty. /p  
p style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"The Superior was in front of me. His lips were moving, but I couldn't make sense of the words. I curled my hand into a fist, buried the pain, and launched a punch into his face. It was stronger than I imagined, but not strong enough. /p  
p style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"His men weren't attacking me. They formed a large circle around me. What the hell was going on? "You stay away from me..." I choked, falling to my knees. The Superior stepped closer. In my fading vision, I saw another needle filled with obsidian in his hands. He moved towards me, but I seized his wrists. "STAY AWAY!" His hands were dripping pure darkness. I hated his close proximity. It brought back a rush of memories I couldn't keep locked away, and the trauma crippled my strength./p  
p style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"The Superior knocked my hands away and grabbed my throat, pushing the needle into me. Another rush of pain, and my strength fell through my fingers like sand. My shaking hands fell to my sides. "Stay away from us..."/p  
p style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"The ground slammed into my back, and I descended into /br /br /For the third time in less than 24 hours, I awoke to unfamiliar surroundings. The air smelled damp, like rusted steel and old technology. Voices echoes all around me. "He's just an imposter. The Regime is trying a scare tactic. They've done it before."br /br /"I dunno. He looks a emlot/em like the original to me."br /br /I ground my teeth, even through my vision was still encroached by darkness. "Wouldn't be the first time I've heard that. Who are you?"br /br /My blindfold was ripped away, and silhouettes flickering against the blinding light surrounded me. The first face I recognized was the Superior, and a flash of bad memories infiltrated my mind. He was everything I hated, and fought to destroy. And now he was here. "What the fuck do you want?" I demanded, deciding to at least give the impression that I still had power. I wanted to spit in his face, yet I didn't have the strength to do so. The drugs still had a grip on my mind, and they were far stronger than anything on my earth that I'd grown an immunity /br / "You're fighting the wrong war, son," A western accent sounded from behind him, and he felt the ties strapping his wrist snap apart. "You don't want them by your side. You never did."br /br /The moment I felt my arms free, I leaped to my feet and put distance between me and the Superior. He made no move towards me, instead only watching with mild interest. If the Superior on my world was evil, then this Superior had to be the opposite, didn't he? How could I trust them? And why wasn't The General against me?br /br /"I don't trust you." I felt my hands curling into fists, but it didn't do much to level my seething hatred towards the man that took everything from us. Even if he wasn't the same /br /The Superior sighed, completely out of character. "I know you don't trust me. You never did. Not until you came to us for help."br /br /"Last I remember, emyou/em kidnapped emme/em. The Regime will find you."br /br /The General moved in front of me, standing beside the Superior. He raised his eyebrows. "Do you want them to?"br /br /br /emThe General's must've noticed my eyes constantly darting to the Superior, making sure he didn't try anything. Because he leaned over and whispered something I couldn't hear. The Superior tensed, then turned back to my direction. He bowed his head. "Whatever my counterpart has done to your world, I'm sorry." He looked me in the eyes again, the fierceness still there, yet not as menacing as I'd seen it before. "But I am not your enemy. We are not your enemy."br /br /I narrowed my gaze. "We?"br /br /The doors behind me slid open, and I instantly caught a familiar scent of lilacs and demolition ashes. I didn't want to turn around, too afraid to face the lie and believe it to be true. Not wanting to fall victim to the countless dreams I've had of having her in my arms again. I felt her presence behind me like a roaring /br /The Superior left first, but The General's lingered for a few extra moments to say, "Listen to us, and we can get you home."br /br /Then, he was out of my line of /br /I didn't understand any of this, and I wasn't sure I wanted /br /Her hand touched my shoulder. I shut my eyes, my mind reliving memories of the past, the visions flashing before me as if catching the whiff of an ancient /br /"Beecher." Of all the things about her, it was her voice that sent me to my knees. I knew there was a chance she was alive in this world. I wanted to believe it so bad, but I didn't want to think about it. I didn't want to give myself hope. The dead remain in the grave, yet I was being haunted in a way I'd never /br /"Beecher. Look at me."br /br /I shut my eyes, refusing to turn around. Refusing to let the vision drain through my fingers like sand. "You were dead."br /br /"And so were you."br /br /Silence lingered between us. There was nothing to say, and yet my mind was being ravaged with a thousand unspoken promises, so many things I wanted to tell her over the years that I could never put into /br /"None of this makes any sense... Why am I here?"br /br /She didn't say anything, and I didn't know if she interpreted it as 'why am I at this base', or 'why was I sent to this world'.br /br /"Beecher. Turn around." The first contact came from her arms folding around me from behind. My skin electrified beneath her touch, and suddenly she was a roaring wave rolling through me like a vessel. If gravity died around me, I would still be /br /She felt so familiar. She felt like emmine/em. Hell, she might as well have been. And to her, I must have felt the same. I didn't have to turn around to see her face, I could tell by the frequency I felt radiating off her. But I was compelled /br /Tears rimmed her reddened eyes, and her curly hair framed her face, rogue strands catching the light. Yet, she smiled and tilted her head to the side. "Took you long enough." Her voice was like music, her words my favorite sound. "Still the same Beecher I've always known."br /br /Her deep brown irises gleamed through her tear streaked eyes. Even though she was my perfection, I'd rarely seen her cry. Not like this. She must have been as lost as I was after I died. After emshe/em died in my world. I never spoke a word about her. Not to anyone, except Etrius. The past wasn't something me and my team liked to talk about. But this... This wasn't the past. She was the present, and my /br /"Sivan."/p 


End file.
